12 charged in London Apple Store thefts

Manchester Arndale Apple Store

After a series of 13 robberies at different Apple Stores in the London area, police made several arrests. Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania man has been jailed for an Apple gift card “draining scam.”

The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.

12 charged in London Apple Store “raids”

Twelve people, 11 of them minors, have been charged for their part in a series of 13 robberies at Apple Stores in and around London.

According to The Daily Mail, the robberies took place over three weeks at Apple Store locations at Regent Street, Brent Cross, Bromley, Bentalls Centre and Watford. Among the criminal charges were conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to steal from a shop, while another was hit with a drug charge.

iPhone thief caught on video in Manchester

In an unrelated Apple Store theft elsewhere in the U.K., a man was caught on video stealing a display iPhone. When a store employee asked him to leave, the man fled the store.

According to the The Daily Mail, which described the suspect as a “deerstalker hat-wearing red-bearded crook,” the theft took place on January 14 at the Arndale Shopping Center in Manchester.

Three Chinese nationals plead guilty to gift card scam

In federal court in New Hampshire on January 14, a trio of Chinese nationals pled guilty to their parts in a gift card conspiracy involving Apple products.

According to the Justice Department, the scam involved criminals in China fraudulently acquiring gift cards, and sending gift card data to accomplices in the U.S., after which the American accomplices used the gift cards to purchase “high-value electronics, principally Apple products.” The cell members then consolidated products in warehouses for shipment to Asia.

The three people pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for three separate dates in April.

Pennsylvania man sentenced in gift card scheme

In another case involving a Chinese national, Apple products and gift cards, a Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to three years in prison, for his part in what was described as an “Apple gift card draining scam” in the Pittsburgh area.

The Beaver County Times reports the 20-year-old man entered guilty pleas for running corrupt organizations and organized retail crime. According to investigators, the man was stealing Apple gift cards from Walmart locations and “altering the cards to receive payouts.”

“After the gift cards were loaded with value by unsuspecting purchasers, the defendant would drain the balances, leaving them with worthless cards,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement.

DoorDash drivers were used in scheme to steal Apple packages

There have been a series of thefts of packages in Norfolk, Mass., in which unwitting DoorDash drivers were used to collect the packages, the city’s police department said.

The perpetrators apparently knew packages were about to be delivered and sent the drivers, who were unaware they were stealing. Two of the three packages contained Apple products.

Woman tracks her son’s iPhone to China

A poster to the r/iPhone subreddit said on January 12 that her son’s iPhone was stolen from New York City last October. She then followed its signal from the Bronx, to a warehouse on Long Island, and eventually to Shenzhen, China. The woman also provided maps of the iPhone’s trajectory.

“A police report was filed with NYPD on the day it was stolen,” the woman wrote. “But they clearly had zero interest in the case (even when it was still live traceable in the city).”

iPhone was among items found in Cybertruck that blew up in Las Vegas

Among the items found in the Cybertruck of the man whose car exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year’s Day was an iPhone, as well as a smartwatch of an undetermined brand.

The Independent writes 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, the active duty Green Beret who died in the blast, also had fireworks and credit cards among the possessions in the car.

AirTag helps solve car theft

One police department in Colorado recently began handing out free AirTags to help prevent car thefts.

Meanwhile, down in Florida, an AirTag helped police solve what they called the first car theft in the city in 2025.

According to The Palm Beach Post, the theft took place on January 6, when a Range Rover Autobiography SUV was stolen. The owner’s wife tracked the AirTag until it was found in Lauderdale Lakes, and the alleged thief was arrested after running from the SUV.

The 20-year-old suspect was charged with grand theft of an automobile and resisting an officer without violence.

Man accuses his mother of stealing iPad

In mid-December, a man in the Cleveland area reported that he “believed his mother had stolen his iPad.” Per Cleveland.com, the mother and son had “a history of family issues.”